The UK Government’s new Critical Minerals Strategy sets out the ambition to produce 10% of the UK’s mineral needs domestically and 20% through recycling by 2035.
The strategy, which is backed by up to £50 million in new funding, aims to reduce the UK’s reliance on imports of critical minerals.
The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) states that the strategy will ensure no more than 60% of the UK’s supply of any one critical mineral is imported from a single country by 2035.
To achieve this target, the government plans to work with the sector to extract minerals from across the UK, including in Cornwall, which is Europe’s largest lithium deposit.
Commenting on the strategy, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “For too long, Britain has been dependent on a handful of overseas suppliers, leaving our economy and national security exposed to global shocks.”
“That is why we are taking decisive action to change that, boosting domestic production, ramping up recycling, and backing British businesses with the investment they need to compete on the international stage and drive down the cost of living for people at home.”
The UK Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre has identified 34 materials as ‘critical’ to the UK economy. According to research by Green Alliance, the UK is currently 100% reliant on imports for 26 of these materials, and more than 90% reliant on imports for a further six.
Commenting on the strategy, Libby Peake, head of resource policy at Green Alliance, said: “It’s clearly time for a plan for managing the geopolitical risks we face around these critical minerals, and the environmental and human rights consequences of mining them.”
“We can judge the government’s strategy on the extent to which it reduces demand for new materials and increases their reuse, helping the UK become more resilient in an uncertain world.”
The government has promised to use the Environment Agency’s priority tracked service to support permitting for projects in domestic production and recycling.
It has also committed to working with Skills England and the Department for Work and Pensions to support the skills required in the UK to meet the Strategy’s goals.
In September, the UK’s National Wealth Fund announced a £31 million commitment to Cornish Lithium to advance the Trelavour Lithium Project towards a construction decision and the Cross Lanes Geothermal Lithium Project to commercial drilling.